Wasserboxer-why did the silencer and swingarm swap sides?

I believe that the only correct answer is that they somehow save money during the production process by putting the drive on the left side. I seriously doubt that there could be any other reason. :rob

As for that silly propaganda about keeping from burning your leg etc. :blagblah That's just total BS and simply reflects BMW's true feelings regarding the intelligence of their customers! :mad:
 
iandavid said:
... and they force you to buy new panniers
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Ta Da! Ever wonder why they've been giving away pannier sets and exhausts with the old bikes? Now you know. And the new ones will not be loss leaders. This way the basic bike will only be a few hundred quid more, but they'll rake it in with the optional bits that everyone wants knowing that you can them second hand set from eBay. This is just sound capitalist economics, used in the electronics and PC industries to great profit.
 
dazlewis said:
Ahh - I was envisaging a worm gear drive with the worm on the end of the drive shaft and reversing the thread on the worm or whether it engages at top or bottom of drive gear to swap rotation.. I hadn't really thought about it, but I guess bevel gears are probably a better solution than a worm gear and I agree for this the rotation direction can't be so easily reversed.*

Darren

Please ignore any asterisks. It is a random iPad thing.
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I for one is for worm gears, awesome engine breaking....:beer:
 
BMW head of design says it's cos if the bike falls over when pushing it one doesnt burn ones leg and it looks cooler when on the side stand - not a big deal but fair enough
 
Why does the exhaust sit so far away from the wheel?
Why is there a HUGE (wasted) space between panniers case and wheel?
 
2 wheel humvee said:
The 1200GS' "Project leader" Antonius Rhue states the reason the exhaust swopped sides.......
So that when offroad riding, riders who dismount and push/walk alongside the bike have less chance of burning their legs.:roll
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Push/walk alongside it! :eek:

I'm no weedy weak weakling but its hard enough pushing the bike on a tarmac/metalled road. The thought of having to do so on a rough muddy track or dry sand or stoney lane.... Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

That this guy simply expects his potential customers will swallow such BS without question beggars belief.

People can try and argue the science of it as much as they like but I'm firmly of the opinion that that's bollox and it's purely for commercial reasons only. :rob
 
MEDICMAN said:
People can try and argue the science of it as much as they like but I'm firmly of the opinion that that's bollox and it's purely for commercial reasons only. :rob
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i agree.

that's just a bit of guff to make it sound like they think of everything :rolleyes:
 
People can try and argue the science of it as much as they like but I'm firmly of the opinion that that's bollox and it's purely for commercial reasons only. :rob[/QUOTE]

Agree - commercial reasons brought about by the redesign with the wet clutch and gearbox inside the engine and optimisation of manufacturing and maybe some parts bin sharing. DEFINITELY nothing to do with burning legs or side stands or engine torque (Its nice sitting at a red light blipping da throttle and feeling the twist)
They must think we's idjits ....
 
So not only have the shaft and exhaust changed sides but the primary coil covers now come fromthe front of the engine and not the back as before......................have they just turned the engine around :D
 
.......also, as well as sharing the drive train with the K series for commercial reasons perhaps WBM have decided to address FD reliability as well by using a drive train that is AFAIK reliable as well as being designed to take the power of the K bikes? It's unlikely the current FD would have become more reliable handling 125bhp?

Andres
 
MEDICMAN said:
Push/walk alongside it! :eek:

I'm no weedy weak weakling but its hard enough pushing the bike on a tarmac/metalled road. The thought of having to do so on a rough muddy track or dry sand or stoney lane.... Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

That this guy simply expects his potential customers will swallow such BS without question beggars belief.

People can try and argue the science of it as much as they like but I'm firmly of the opinion that that's bollox and it's purely for commercial reasons only. :rob
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You really need to go trail riding - it's common practice to walk alongside the bike. It's also common practice to use this thing called the engine to help you :thumb
 
2 wheel humvee said:
And the reason the swingarm swapped sides?
So the bike looks better when parked on the side stand.

The swingarm one....... o.k. I'm with him on that one to a degree and as long as it didn't add to the budget too much I can't see the BMW beancounters getting too upset.
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Noooohhh..... I've always thought my (admittedly airhead) GS looks like a mega-purposeful piece of kit from a rear right three quarter viewpoint when on the sidestand - that big purposeful paralever apparatus looks even better tipped up to the light a bit.


dazlewis said:
Ahh - I was envisaging a worm gear drive with the worm on the end of the drive shaft and reversing the thread on the worm or whether it engages at top or bottom of drive gear to swap rotation...
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Hmmm... Worm drive, as used on some truck rear axles if I remember rightly. Makes me suddenly ponder the idea of a super high ground clearance enduro design with a high mounted mono/paralever swing arm attaching to the top, rather than the centre, of the bevel (or worm, as it would be). Think I'll get out my sketchpad.
 
Unfortunately

Quote:
Originally Posted by dazlewis
Ahh - I was envisaging a worm gear drive with the worm on the end of the drive shaft and reversing the thread on the worm or whether it engages at top or bottom of drive gear to swap rotation...


Hmmm... Worm drive, as used on some truck rear axles if I remember rightly. Makes me suddenly ponder the idea of a super high ground clearance enduro design with a high mounted mono/paralever swing arm attaching to the top, rather than the centre, of the bevel (or worm, as it would be). Think I'll get out my sketchpad.[/quote]

Worm drives are very neat, but suffer from two major problems:
Efficiency and lifespan.

They are appalling in efficiency terms. Efficiency can vary but will be typically 60-85%.
A hypoid range is 72 -85%.
Take it that the expected efficiency will be at the bottom end of the range for worm.
Lifespan. In my experience, worm drives working hard do not have a great lifespan. Great in low load applications such as lifts, where their self braking function is an advantage.

Myke
 
With all the engineering expertise at BMW why have they not made an efficient hydraulic system. Off the shelf systems are about 90% for motor and pump so lose about 20% overall.
See http://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/28430/hydraulic-pump-motors-maintenance

With some careful design to optimise fluid flow surely they could push it up to a 15% loss overall, the same as a mechanical gearbox and transmission. Advantages are no clunky gears no drive shaft reaction and truely variable ratios.

With BMW's research budgets this cant be a big ask and they might manage even better. They threw out tele forks in the 1990s. Its now time to rewrite the transmission design.

Dream on. Its as daft as asking them to use an 800cc 150bhp 2 stroke that beats similar power 4 strokes on every level - fuel, noise, emissions, servicing.
http://www.brp-powertrain.com/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-235/374_read-355/

Do some googling to see how really good these new DI 2 strokes really are.
 
Unless you have a gearbox you need a variable pump which isn't a problem. What is a problem is you run the engine at constant revs. Not a problem in its own as you would run it at peek torque but it's unacceptable to punters to have their engines running at constant revs which would be high for say town running. So you end up having to compromise and have a hybrid Variable pump/engine revs. It's been tried before a few times and it has always been dropped in the automotive world. Maybe someday soon with computer control getting better and better. Besides look at the number of complaints just because they dared to use water to cool the engine, how do you think they would react to hydraulic drive!
 
my Guzzi Convert works well. it's a pretty simple system, and i can't help thinking that with 35 years of development and new technology, it could be perfect.
 
News just in :

AA flatbeds have moved their main tie downs to the opposite side in anticipation of the new BMW GS release.

:hide
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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